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Welcome to Umpqua Research Company

Umpqua Research Company (URC) is a small business that offers technical services in four primary areas: [1] Drinking Water and Environmental Analysis, [2] Air and Water Purification Related Engineering Services (including NASA Flight Hardware), [3] Research & Development, and [4] Materials Testing. Our organization was founded in 1973 by David F. Putnam and Gerald V. Colombo. William F. Michalek currently serves as President.

Working with NASA and major aerospace firms, URC has established a reputation of excellence within the Regenerative Life Support community that is unequaled by any other small business. On April 12th, 2007, URC was inducted into the Space Technology Hall of Fame. Over the years, our initially Aerospace Related business has expanded into a variety of Environmental Services, including analytical testing and construction material quality control, for our customers throughout the Pacific Northwest. URC currently consists of a small group of highly trained professionals with vast experience in the application of science and engineering to the solution of environmental problems both in space and here at home. The staff includes chemical, electrical, and mechanical engineers, chemists, physicists, and biological scientists.

Serving the Pacific Northwest, we operate a state-of-the-art, NELAP accredited analytical facility for the identification and quantitation of chemical and microbiological contaminants within drinking water and environmental samples. For more than 20 years, our R&D group has actively pursued the development of advanced technologies to support extended human presence in space. Working with NASA, major aerospace firms, and academic institutions, URC has participated in microgravity flight experiments aboard the Space Shuttle, and NASA's KC-135 and C-9 aircraft.

URC is a Research and Commercialization Partner (Industrial Affiliate) with the Oregon Nanoscience and Microtechnologies Institute (ONAMI), Oregon's first Signature Research Center, which brings together venture capitalists, private industry, and investigators from the University of Oregon (UO), Oregon State University (OSU), Portland State University (PSU), and the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL). Through this affiliation we have access to a broad range of sophisticated instrumentation and facilities located at member institutions: the Center for Advanced Materials Characterization in Oregon (CAMCOR), the Center for Electron Microscopy and Nanofabrication (CEMN), and the Microproducts Breakthrough Institute (MBI).

URC maintains 12,000 square feet of facilities in Myrtle Creek, Oregon, which includes chemical, microbiological, engineering research & development laboratories, machine shop, electronics, computing, quality control, clerical and administrative workspaces. We also operate a chemistry and microbiology laboratory facility in Bend, Oregon. URC's Quality Assurance Program includes a Calibration System based on the requirements of ANSI Z540.1/ISO10012-1 and an Inspection System in compliance with MIL-I-45208A.